I love being a mommy. It is by far the most amazing and wonderful thing I have ever done. If I never accomplish another thing in my entire life, that's OK, because I truly feel like my reason for being put on this earth, was to be Growly Bears mommy.That being said, being a mommy makes everything in day to day life take a little longer. And I'm good with that! I'm used to it now. At first, it took me a little while to figure out how to do things with a baby. Like the first time I had to take a shower, and there was no one home to watch Growly Bear, I had a small panic attack wondering what the heck I was going to do with her. I quickly learned that that her Rock N'Play vibrating chair placed so close to the side of the tub it was touching, allowed me to get clean. I would only peak out at her every 10 or 15 seconds, unless she coughed or sneezed or made some other noise! That would send me flying out of the shower in a sudsed up panic to check on her and make sure she was still breathing. Showers are much more enjoyable now that she happily plays in her crib and sings along with her mobile while I listen to her on the monitor.And things like grocery shopping! Well, I just out and out refused to do that on my own. Our car seat for some reason never fit properly (or safely!) onto the shopping carts at our local grocery store. So, if my hubby didn't have time to come with me, and if my mom was too busy to tag along, we just lived on toast and cereal and take-out until I had someone to go with. The idea of pushing a stroller and a shopping cart just didn't seem like a lot of fun to me. And then, just when shopping with Growly Bear on my own became feasible because she can now sit up in the cart, I saw a dad shopping with his little baby the other day, and he had her in the Snuggly! Of course! The Snuggly! Why on earth didn't I think of that!?! Duh!Leaving the house with a baby in general was quite the ordeal in the beginning! Did I pack enough wipes, and receiving blankets? What about a change of clothes in case she poos all over the place? And then ANOTHER change of clothes in case she pukes all over after that! Do I have enough diapers? What about a cozy blanket? Some toys to entertain her if she gets board? What about extra suckies in case one falls in some horrible spot while we're out and about? There was no such thing as "quickly" running somewhere with a brand new baby! Things are easier now though. Since she's gotten a little older, she seems to require less "stuff", or maybe I've just figured out what's really necessary. Most days we can be out of the house in under 10 minutes if her have to be.Then of course there were the eating issues! Was she getting enough? Was she sleeping too long between feedings? Was it normal for her to sleep that much? Plus, she had/has refulx, and for the first 6 months of her life spit up constantly. I was continuously worried that she was spitting up too much milk and not getting enough nutrients. Around 6 months, she started spitting up less, and then it was time to introduce some solids! That went well. So well in fact that she doesn't really want much of mommy's milk anymore. Now that she's 8.5 months old, she wants REAL food! So now there's the new set of worries if she's getting enough milk with all this food she'd rather eat. All I have to do is look at my happy, healthy, chubby little girl when in doubt though, and I know she's getting all she needs, but still, there's that nagging part in the back of my brain that wonders if she's doing OK.Most days, I feel like I've got this mommy thing down. We're at a point where she'll happy play while I fold and put a quick load of laundry away. Or I can put on some music and she'll jump for ages in her Jumparoo while I clean the house. She'll happily watch and talk to me while I make dinner most evening. And *bad mommy confession* she loves to watch Tree House on TV in the morning while I'm getting ready for work.But then something unexpected happens, and I find myself completely stumped with no idea how to handle the situation! It was a beautiful day today, so Growly Bear and I decided to take a walk up the hill to see Grama. This is always a bit of an ordeal in it's self! Our Snuggly is great, and fairly comfortable, but it's more of a 2 person job to actually get Growly Bear in it. Seeing as my hubby was at work today, I had to get her in there myself. After bundling her up in a cozy jacket and boots, I stood over the soft couch just in case we had some horrible malfunction, and I started to try to get her into this device. She grunted and growled at me the entire time, and just when I almost had her in place, she decided to start trying to "jump", and we were back at square one! Eventually, I managed to wrestle her into it. I called the dogs to come with us, and off we went!Now, keep in mind that this crazy hill that we have to take up to Grama's house is extremely steep, and seems to go on forever! And I have had pretty much zero physical activity in the last year and a half. That, with the added bonus of having an 18.5lb wiggling, squirming, kicking baby strapped to the front of me, and a diaper bag hanging off of one arm, and a cozy blanky under my other arm, makes for a less then leisurely walking experience. But, I needed some fresh air.Half way up the hill, I notice my foot feels funny. I can't see it because of the Snuggly bulge (It's like being pregnant! But this time my the tops of my legs are getting kicked instead of my bladder), but something with my shoe seems off. So there I am, standing on the hill, arms wrapped around the Snuggly, trying to balance, and kicking my foot up into the air so I can see what's going on. Turns out my shoe lace had come undone. Fabulous! How on earth am I going to tie it?For a couple seconds, I contemplated not tying it at all, but then I was got worried that I might trip and land not only on MY face, but on Growly Bear;s too. So, I carefully shuffled over to the side of the hill so that I could try to figure out a way to get to my foot.I can't squat or crouch because Growly Bear is too long, and her legs were in the way and I'd smoosh them. I thought about sitting down on my bum, but I was pretty sure I'd never be able to get up again. There was nothing I could back up to and lean against and try to bring my foot up to my hands, Finally I saw a rather small boulder that I could put my foot up on... It was better then nothing.I tossed the diaper bad and blanket onto the ground, and gave it a try. As soon as I leaned forward, I crushed poor Growly Bear though, and she let me know right away by growling and then hollering at me. I tried to adjust my body a little and lean and then bend off to the side... Pretty sure I almost popped a rib out! I tried a couple other fancy maneuvers, and when I had no luck, I figured i just had to go for the front, forward bend, and I better just do it quickly and get it over with. When I leaned forward enough to reach my foot though, Growly Bear ended up pointing head down towards the ground! Eak! Scary! I tried to tie my shoe with one hand, and hang onto her with the other, but anyone who has tried to tie a shoe with one hand knows it's impossible. So, I said a little prayer, gently leaned forward as far as I could, and tied it as quickly as I could! She all of a sudden decided it was funny and started bouncing in the Snuggly while laughing! Crazy kid! I have no idea how one of us wasn't horrible injured!It all ended well, and we made it to our destination safely.... Out of breath and a little sweaty, but we made it.So, lessons learned today:1) Just went you think your a totally prepared momma who has it all under control, life presents you with a new and intriguing situation to figure out.2) Check your freaking shoe laces before leaving the house wearing a Snuggly!3) Thank god it's almost flip-flops weather!I'll leave you with some photos of or adventure.Love and Hugs

Rotten Doggies along for our walk

Growly Bear

Pretty view down to the beach in front of our house.

Me and my sweet girl

Even the cat came for a walk! That Rock on the left hand side, half way down was my "shoe" rock...

Author

_

_I'm
an unorganized, wanna be neat freak. I love my husband and my baby
girl, jeans with the "comfort" waistband, online shopping, cheesy 80's
tunes and anything chocolate. On a good day I'm kinda awesome. On a bad
day, not so much.